For years, emergency physicians have used nitroglycerin as a method for identifying heart disease
as a cause of chest pain. If a patient arrives at an emergency department complaining of chest pain, and
a nitroglycerin pill under the tongue relieves the pain within a few minutes, the likely diagnosis is
coronary artery disease.

A study by researchers from the UC Davis Health System Department of Emergency Medicine and the Division
of Cardiology found that chest pain reduction from nitroglycerin is not a reliable indicator of heart
disease. The study was published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.